[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12057-12060]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         COUNTERING AMERICA'S ADVERSARIES THROUGH SANCTIONS ACT

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3364, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3364) to provide congressional review and to 
     counter aggression by the Governments of Iran, the Russian 
     Federation, and North Korea, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 20 minutes of debate, equally 
divided.
  The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I yield myself 3 minutes.
  I first thank Senator Corker, Senator Crapo, Senator Brown, Senator 
Schumer, and Senator McConnell for their help in getting us to this 
moment. This is an important moment for our country, and I am very 
proud of what we were able to accomplish.
  The legislation we are about to vote on will give the United States 
the strongest possible hand to stand up against the aggression of 
Russia. Russia attacked us and our democratic institutions; Russia 
invaded the sovereignty of other countries, including Ukraine and 
Georgia; Russia is participating in war crimes in Syria, and this 
legislation will give the United States the strongest possible hand in 
taking action against Russia.
  Mandatory sanctions are included in this legislation with regard to 
the energy sector, the financial sector, the intelligence and defense 
sectors--not only with primary sanctions but with secondary sanctions. 
This legislation provides for a democracy fund, working with Europe, to 
protect ourselves against Russia's attacks. This legislation provides a 
review process so the President, on his own, cannot eliminate 
sanctions. He must come to Congress. As President Obama had to in 
regard to the Iran sanctions, the President would have to come to 
Congress in regard to sanction relief against Russia.
  This is a tough bill to stand up to what Russia has done and requires 
mandatory action. There are so many people to thank in regard to this. 
Of course, we also have the Iran sanctions. I thank Senator Menendez, 
on our side, particularly on the Iran sanctions issues. We are taking 
actions against Iran for their nonnuclear violations, their support of 
terrorists, their ballistic missile violations, their support of the 
arms embargo, human rights violations.
  What we do here is totally consistent with the JCPOA. The bills are 
very consistent with what passed this Chamber 98 to 2. We maintained 
the integrity of the Iran and Russia provisions consistent with what 
was done in our committees.
  In regard to North Korea, I know we all want to take actions against 
North Korea. The provisions added by the House are consistent with what 
we think are appropriate for North Korea.
  This is an important moment for our country. I really do want to 
thank all involved. I know Senator Corker, Senator Brown, and Senator 
Crapo would agree with me: I really thank our dedicated staff. We could 
not have done this without our staff. They worked 24/7 for the last 7 
weeks to get this done. As a result of their action, the United States 
is going to be in a better position dealing with Russia when this 
legislation is enacted, and I am proud to be part of that.
  I reserve the remainder of my time.
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I thank the ranking member for his 
outstanding efforts, along with many others.
  What I would like to do now is yield to Senator McCain, and I will 
speak last.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I thank the Democratic leader for his 
courtesy, as always.
  In just the last 3 years, under Vladimir Putin, Russia has invaded 
Ukraine, annexed Crimea, threatened NATO allies, and intervened 
militarily in Syria, leaving a trail of death, destruction, and broken 
promises in his wake. Of course, last year Russia attacked the 
foundations of American democracy with a cyber and information campaign 
to interfere in America's 2016 election.
  I am proud--I am proud--of the two individuals who just spoke, the 
Senator from Maryland and the Senator from Tennessee. Both of them have 
worked in a bipartisan fashion and got legislation to this floor. 
Although it is long overdue, it is here. I believe we will see an 
overwhelming vote, and I thank them for their bipartisanship.
  In the last 8 months, what price has Russia paid for attacking 
American democracy? Very little. This legislation would begin to change 
that. The legislation would impose mandatory sanctions on transactions 
with the Russian defense or intelligence sectors, including the FSB and 
the GRU, and the Russian military intelligence agency which was 
primarily responsible for Russia's attack on our election.

[[Page 12058]]

  I believe my colleagues know what is in this. It would codify 
existing sanctions on Russia by placing into law six Executive orders 
signed by President Obama in response to both Russian interference in 
the 2016 election and its illegal actions in Ukraine, and it would take 
new steps to tighten those sanctions.
  The legislation would target the Russian energy sector, which is 
controlled by Vladimir Putin's cronies, with sanctions on investment in 
Russian petroleum and natural gas development as well as Russian energy 
pipelines.
  My friends, the United States of America needs to send a strong 
message to Vladimir Putin and any other aggressor that we will not 
tolerate attacks on our democracy. That is what this bill is all about. 
We must take our own side in this fight, not as Republicans, not as 
Democrats but as Americans.
  It is time to respond to Russia's attack on American democracy with 
strength, with resolve, with common purpose, and with action. I am 
proud to have played a small role. What I am most proud of is the 
bipartisanship you are seeing manifested today on both sides of the 
aisle. We need a little more of it.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from 
Arizona for his dedication to our national security, for his tremendous 
involvement in this legislation, and all that he does on behalf of all 
of us to make sure that our Nation is secure.
  Thank you so much for those comments and for your deep involvement in 
this piece of legislation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I thank the chairman of the Foreign 
Relations Committee and the ranking member, Senator Cardin.
  Senator Crapo and I began working on this months and months ago. I 
appreciate that partnership.
  Senator McCain--I read an op-ed he wrote in USA Today about 3 weeks 
ago. It was about what Putin tried to do with some level of success in 
Montenegro, and nobody has watched Putin and his intervention in our 
elections and European elections and their governments and his desire 
to destabilize democracy around the world--nobody has recognized it 
quite as early or with the acute sense that Senator McCain has, and we 
thank him for that.
  I rise to urge my colleagues to join me and vote for this critical 
sanctions legislation, which is the product of months of bipartisan 
effort in this body.
  At a time when it is difficult to get things done in this far-too 
partisan Senate, this effort proves it is still possible for Congress 
to come together and accomplish big things. The bill provides for a 
range of tough new sanctions against Iran, Russia, and North Korea.
  The Ukrainian community in my State knows firsthand the dangers of 
decades of unchecked Russian aggression. Congress must act to punish 
Russia for its continued actions in Ukraine, in East Ukraine, in 
Crimea, and for its interference in our Presidential election and to 
deter future such aggression.
  This bill will prevent President Trump from relaxing sanctions on 
Russia without congressional review. We are all concerned about that.
  Iran is one of the world's leading state sponsors of terrorism and a 
continuing source of instability throughout the region. This bill is 
carefully written to avoid violating U.S. commitments under the Iran 
nuclear agreement, and it applies new sanctions in response to Iran's 
support for terrorism, its human rights abuses, and its ballistic 
missile program.
  It also incorporates sanctions on North Korea, including measures to 
toughen enforcement of current U.N. Security Council rules. North 
Korea's efforts to develop nuclear capabilities must be countered. We 
must take a stand against its horrendous human rights record, including 
the savage treatment of Otto Warmbier that led to his death.
  These are important steps. More can be done to address the situation 
in North Korea.
  I thank my staff, Colin McGinnis, Mark Powden, and Graham Steele on 
this. I appreciate the work of the staff in all four of these offices 
on Banking and Foreign Relations, and I ask my colleagues to concur.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak on 
leader time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, last year, we know the United States was 
victim of an attack by a foreign power on the very foundation of this 
dear democracy--the right of the people to a free and fair election.
  The consensus view of 17 agencies is that Mr. Putin interfered in the 
2016 election. For that alone, the United States has more than just 
cause to sanction President Putin and the intelligence apparatus he 
directs. To date, Mr. Putin and his allies have not suffered serious 
repercussions for this stunning breach of our right as a sovereign 
nation not to have our elections disturbed by a foreign capital. That 
all changes today.
  Congress has drafted this sanctions bill to hold Mr. Putin 
accountable for his actions and to send a message to him and the rest 
of the world that any further attempts to degrade our democracy will 
meet further sanctions and action. We will not stand by idly as this is 
done.
  There is no process more sacred in a democracy than the guarantee of 
free and fair elections. That fundamental right was attacked by Mr. 
Putin. With this vote, let us finally--finally--officially condemn and 
forcefully respond to that attack on our country. Let us send this bill 
to the President's desk for his signature.
  We still don't know if President Trump will sign this legislation. I 
say to my colleagues: If the Congress speaks loudly enough and strongly 
enough and we send this bill with a veto-proof majority, it will not 
matter what President Trump decides.
  Before I yield the floor, I wish to thank my colleagues. At the top 
of the list are Senators McCain and Graham, who early on had the idea 
to do this. Their strength against transgressions against this country 
is wonderful.
  I thank the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He had to 
pursue this legislation through ups and downs. He didn't relent, and 
here we are today because of his efforts.
  I thank his ranking member, Senator Cardin. They are a great 
bipartisan team.
  Similarly, Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Brown, again, in a 
bipartisan way, not letting partisan politics get in the way--they 
passed this legislation.
  I would like to thank leader McConnell because when he and I talked 
about bringing this legislation to the floor, he didn't blink. He 
didn't hesitate. He was forthright and said: Let's do it.
  This piece of legislation proves that when this body works the way it 
should, when both parties talk to each other, work with each other, and 
the committee chairmen and ranking members negotiate legislation 
through proper procedure, we can produce good, strong bipartisan 
legislation.
  I would be remiss if I didn't mention, in this moment of 
bipartisanship, the same thing could happen with healthcare.
  With that, I urge all of my colleagues to vote yes.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CORKER. I thank the minority leader for his comments, and I yield 
a moment to Senator Crapo, who played an outstanding role as the leader 
of our committee.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAPO. I thank Senator Corker. Mr. President, I thank, too, all 
those who were mentioned: the Foreign Relations leadership, Senator 
Corker and Senator Cardin; Senator Brown, my colleague in the Banking 
Committee; and all the others who have been so involved in this issue.

[[Page 12059]]

  This is one of the examples of how we can work together in a 
bipartisan fashion to craft critical legislation for protecting and 
strengthening America. Frankly, it is past time for us to stand strong 
as a nation in response to the increasing aggression that we see in 
Russia around the world--whether it be in Ukraine, in Crimea, in Syria, 
in facilitating corruption globally, or in the cyber security attacks 
we have seen that have been directed not only at us but at our allies 
across the world.
  It is very important that we implement this legislation. I am glad to 
see the solid bipartisanship that we have been able to build. I also 
hope that we can build this bipartisanship on many, many other issues.
  We are going to be looking at North Korea, as has already been said. 
I am hopeful and confident that we will stand again on this floor soon 
as we deal with the threats we face from North Korea.
  Again, I thank all of those who have worked so closely with us on 
this legislation and appreciate the opportunity for us to move forward, 
united tonight on this critical issue.
  I yield back.
  Mr. CORKER. I yield the floor to Senator Menendez.
  Mr. CARDIN. May I have a moment?
  First, I want to join in thanking Senator McCain and Senator Graham 
for their work. We started in January on this legislation--their 
legislation. How we drafted it is intact here, and I thank Senator 
McCain and Senator Graham.
  The leader on the Iran sanctions, going back many, many Congresses, 
has been Senator Menendez. In introducing him, I want to thank him for 
his leadership on Iran and, also, these other bills. I look forward to 
his comments.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, let me thank the ranking member for his 
kind comments. I thank the chairman for his continuous engagement in 
this regard and his leadership.
  I remind my colleagues that what gave us the vehicle to consider 
Russia and North Korea was the countering Iran act that I was pleased 
to author with the chairman and with the ranking member and other 
colleagues in a bipartisan approach.
  When we started on Iran, there were those who wanted to look only at 
its intercontinental ballistic missile violations. I and others 
persisted and said: Wait a minute. Iran is far more nefarious in its 
activities--beyond intercontinental ballistic missiles.
  It is collective leadership that brought us to a much broader bill 
that we are about to vote on today, where Iran is being pursued for the 
violation of its international order.
  We just had the Prime Minister of Lebanon here, and he was saying to 
us: If you are concerned about Hezbollah, then find where the source of 
the money is. The source of money for Hezbollah is Iran. If you are 
concerned about intercontinental ballistic missiles, I would add, it is 
Iran. If you are concerned about the greatest exporter of terrorism, it 
is Iran. If you are concerned about human rights violations within 
Iran, it is the leadership of Iran.
  This is about sending a message to Iran that, in fact, when you 
violate the international order, there are consequences to it. It is 
about sending a message to Russia that when you violate the 
international order, annex Crimea, invade Ukraine, indiscriminately 
bomb civilians in Syria--and then when you try to affect the elections 
of the United States of America, you have a cyber attack, from my view, 
on the election process.
  We can debate whether it affected the election. That is not the 
issue. The mere fact that Russia tried to affect our elections should 
be upsetting from the average citizen to the President of the United 
States. We have an opportunity to make very clear to Russia and to any 
other nation that this will not be tolerated.
  Finally, to North Korea: North Korea's dangerous provocations in its 
path to nuclear weapons and a delivery system to be able to deliver 
those nuclear weapons are some of the greatest challenges we have.
  We have an opportunity to come here today and say: You have to 
observe the international order. We have to go back to the basis of the 
rules that ultimately came about after our leadership in World War II 
to preserve the international order that has brought us peace and 
prosperity.
  There are only a handful of peaceful diplomacy tools you can pursue. 
One of them is the use of sanctions in order to try to prod countries 
to move in a certain direction and to observe the international order. 
That is our opportunity today with Iran, with Russia, with North Korea. 
I hope we will seize it unanimously because when we do that, we send 
the most powerful message in the world that the United States--
Democrats, Republicans, Independents--stand together in terms of 
defending the national interests and security of the United States.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CORKER. I thank the Senator from New Jersey for his outstanding 
leadership on Iran and his leadership on Russia and North Korea. He has 
led us for years and years in sanctioning Iran and has brought them to 
the table. I thank him for that.
  For those who are here and want to vote, I am going to yield 1 minute 
to Senator Gardner. I am going to speak for about a minute and a half, 
and to my knowledge, we will be ready to vote. I thank all of my 
colleagues for their patience.
  Senator Gardner.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I thank Senator Menendez. I appreciate 
the opportunity to talk about what this Senate and Congress has done. 
Last Congress, we passed unanimously the North Korea Sanctions and 
Policy Enhancement Act.
  This legislation that we are about to vote on builds on the success 
we started with last year. We have more work to do to stop the crazed 
Kim regime.
  I thank the chairman and the leader for committing to further 
conversations on North Korea, further action that needs to be taken 
because we know that, in China, there are over 5,000 businesses still 
doing business with North Korea. China is responsible for 90 percent of 
the North Korean economy. Now, 10 of those 5,000 businesses are 
responsible for 30 percent of the economic activity, the imports from 
North Korea into China. More work has to be done to stop this madman in 
Pyongyang.
  I thank this Senate for moving forward on legislation today to build 
on the success we had last year. I urge its passage. We have more work 
to do to put an end to this regime.
  Mr. CORKER. I thank the Senator for his leadership on North Korea, 
and I thank him for speaking.
  Mr. President, I will be very brief, as I normally am. This bill has 
taken passion, tenacity, and all of us working together to bring out 
the best in this body and to get to this point where we are today. I 
want to thank everybody who has been involved.
  Senator Cardin has been an outstanding ranking member. As always, we 
worked together, just as we did today on another markup, to get to 
where we are. We have Senators Crapo and Brown. I think there were 
about four committees working to get this piece of legislation out. It 
was an incredible effort working around the clock for days and nights. 
I want to thank them for their leadership.
  I want to thank Senator Menendez, again, for his involvement, in 
particular on Iran, but on all of these issues.
  Certainly, thanks go to Senators McCain and Graham for their 
tremendous leadership in beginning the process, especially on Russia. 
Thank you so much.
  Thank you, Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell, for giving us the 
freedom to operate under regular order, the freedom to operate in the 
committee process, which I know all of us long to get to on all issues 
that we deal with here, and thank you to all of those Members who have 
been so involved. Our staffs have been incredible. Thank you so much 
for the professionalism, the knowledge, the energy, and the willingness 
to work late hours to make this happen.

[[Page 12060]]

  The attributes of this legislation have been discussed. I think we 
all are ready for this moment. We are all ready to speak to what Russia 
has done to our country and to others, to speak to what Iran is doing 
outside of the nuclear agreement, and to speak to what North Korea 
continues to do.
  One attribute that hasn't been spoken to is this: It has been my goal 
as chairman, working with the ranking member, that Congress continue to 
be more and more relevant and to garner back the powers that we have 
given to the executive branch for decades. One of the most important 
attributes of this legislation is the congressional review, where, when 
major decisions are made, Congress is involved; Congress has a say. I 
hope we will build upon that, not only in foreign policy but in other 
matters.
  I want to thank all involved.
  I urge a strong vote on this piece of legislation that sends a strong 
message to Iran, to Russia, and to North Korea.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is yielded back.
  The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the 
question is, Shall the bill pass?
  Mr. CORKER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 2, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 175 Leg.]

                                YEAS--98

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Brown
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Flake
     Franken
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heinrich
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Leahy
     Lee
     Manchin
     Markey
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Nelson
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Strange
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--2

     Paul
     Sanders
       
  The bill (H.R. 3364) was passed.

                          ____________________